The Redeemed
by Spirit of the Partrige
Summary: Vayne: a broken woman, running from her mistakes, running from herself. Leona: a life that was never what she wanted, a life filled with regrets and failures. Can they heal each others wounds? VaynexLeona (No smut, dark)
1. Just a scrap of paper

It is midnight in Piltover, Shauna Vayne stands on top of an old building on Piltover's outskirts. She was here in Piltover to track down some black magicians she had deemed a threat, but she was really here because she wanted a break from the institute, and by extension her own confused feelings.

The information she had gathered said that the men would be meeting below her in a few minutes. She just had to wait.

It was so hard, everyone else seemed to understand their feelings but she was still here, clueless. She reached up to her arm and adjusted her crossbow, tightening its fastenings. Then she took her larger crossbow off her back, setting it up on a tripod, pointing it at the street below her. Her life was so simple. She trained, she hunted, she killed, she moved on. That was her life. She began loading her large crossbow, still thinking about what to do.

Down below her she heard footsteps, her quarry had arrived. She snapped her goggles down over her eyes, the goggles, advanced Zaunite technology she had purchased… discreetly, had both the ability to read body heat and also the trace flux that was the byproduct of all magic.

As soon as she snapped the goggles down the whole street lit up, a quick scan of the area below her revealed three cloaked figures on the street fifty feet below her, she ran a quick sweep of the surrounding rooftops.

"Nothing, Nothing, N…"

Her left hand flew to her other wrist steadying her aim, the goggles showed a sharp jump in flux on a rooftop directly across from her.

"Shit"

She had no way of reaching that rooftop without compromising her only escape route. To reach the rooftop she would have to launch the rope she had been planning to use to rappel down to the street, hope it connected and then use it as a zipline across. She weighed the options, if she messed up the zipline it would alert the sorcerers below, then again, if she ignored this flash of magic and it was from an enemy…

Another flash of magic on the rooftop forced her to make a decision. She chose to investigate. Gathering the rope and attaching it to the end of the bolt loaded in her larger crossbow, she shot it, with minimal noise, over the gap between buildings the tip of the bolt landed with a satisfying thunk in the wall of the opposite building. Tying the other end off, she pulled a large pulley on a handle off her belt and swung across the gap between buildings. Climbing up on to the roof of the building, she looked around, nobody in sight. She glanced down at the group below her; they were oblivious to her. Cautiously, and with raised wristbow, she saw nothing but a slip of paper blowing across the rooftop. Walking forward slowly, never lowering her guard, she bent down to inspect the slip of paper, blank… just some loose scrap.

"BANG!" a bolt of magic exploded against the ground where she had been just a few seconds. Vayne whirled, tumbled, and fired a lose bolt at where she thought the magic had come from, it whizzed off in to the night, missing the man in the black cloak that had just appeared behind her.

"Who are you?" she asked as they circled around each other

"Like I'll tell you, why don't you JUST DIE!" he shouted as he shot another bolt, but she had already rolled out of the way.

"Quick, are we?" he taunted. Her reply was to fire another shot, this one much more precisely aimed. He conjured a shield to block it, but only just.

"Once again, who are you?" she asked

This time he chose not to respond, instead firing another bolt of jet-black magic, this time he caught her by surprise; it hit her squarely in the chest, knocking her down and back towards the edge of the roof.

Scrambling to her feet, she cast a glance down to the street below, the men had vanished.

"Looking for us?" someone asked, she whirled around, there were now four men, all in the same black robes.

"Shit"

She quickly shot at the man on the far left, before tumbling to her right at taking aim at the man on the center-left.

The first shot hit in the arm, the man fell to his knees before dissolving in a puff of black smoke.  
The second shot hit perfectly in the neck, and the man collapsed in a pool of his own blood, dead before he even hit the ground.

At this point however, one of the other men launched a blast of kinetic energy at her, standing as she was, very near the edge of the building; its force was more the enough to launch her off the roof.

"I'm going to die" was all she could think of, as she fell fifty feet down to hard concrete

She hit the ground with a sickening crunch; the pain was so sharp it forced all of the air from her lungs.

Somewhere above her she heard a man shout "LET THERE BE LIGHT!" as the sky exploded to the brightness of day

"Am I dead?" was all she could think before she passed out…

Vayne opened her eyes and looked around, she was lying in a hospital bed, white sheets, white walls, white lab coats, everything was white. She was in her normal outfit, but her wristbow was missing, so were her goggles,

"Where am I?" she managed to murmur

"Piltover general hospital; critical ward" a hazy voice answered

Vayne decided to try and turn her head to look at the person who had just spoken,

"I wouldn't try to move if I were you"

Too late, Vayne felt an overwhelming stabbing sensation in her left hip, the pain was overwhelming

"ARGH!"

She saw someone in a white nurse's uniform rushing towards her, a long syringe in hand.

"Hold Still" she said stabbing the syringe in to her shoulder, immediately the pain subsided enough that she could breathe again.

"What was that?" she asked

"Extremely powerful short-short term nerve anesthetic, it stops almost all pain for about ten seconds, anything stronger then that acts as a neurotoxin"

"What happened to me?"

"Your hip is broken, you won't be able to walk without a crutch for a while, although Soraka may be able to fix it faster than we can, frankly you should have been more heavily injured then you are, Jayce says you fell about fifty feet…"

"Jayce?"

"Yes, Jayce found you and brought you here"

"And did he say why he was out and about on a rooftop in Piltover?" Her overly suspicious mind had already created numerous ways Jayce could be involved.

"No"

"Where is he?"

"Outside, but you can't walk yet"

"Yes I can, give me a crutch and my wristbow" she demanded

"No you can't…" But rather than let her finish, Vayne forced herself up in the bed and made to swing her legs on to the floor.

"ARGH! AHHRG! Fuck Fuck Fuck!"

This time the nurse was ready, again she stabbed her shoulder, again the pain subsided. "I told you, you can't walk yet" she chided

"Just watch me" she said, forcing herself to her feet, the painkiller was all that stopped her from passing up

"Sit down, now!" the nurse demanded

"No" Vayne was hobbling towards the exit, supporting herself on the wall, this time the nurse gave up and brought her a crutch to stand on.

"Thank you, now where is my wristbow?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Jayce, he took it" she answered, a hint if timidness creeping in to her voice.

"Where is he?" the calm in her voice could not conceal her anger.

"Outside, in the waiting room on the left, waiting for me to call him in" the nurse answered, making it perfectly clear that she didn't want Vayne to leave.

"Fine, call him in"

The nurse, whose name Vayne did not know, left the room, leaving Vayne in the middle of the room standing on her crutch. She ran through everything she knew about Jayce, he was the second newest champion in the league, a hero in Piltover, his battle against Viktor was the stuff of legends. He didn't seem like the type to plan an ambush, and he had been the one to save her, then again, if he wanted information from her, he was in the perfect position to get it from her, she resolved not to tell him anything. Just as she decided that, the door opened and Jayce and the nurse walked in.

"Thank you Nancy, we're good." he said to the nurse, as she turned to leave

"I'll be outside if either of you need me" she smiled at Jayce and left

There was a few seconds of silence while Vayne stared at him with the look of a predator planning her next move. Finally Jayce decided to speak:

"Are you alright?" he asked

"Let's see, I just fell fifty feet off a building, you tell me?"

"I mean…"

"I am aware of what you meant, it's none of your business, why were you out on a rooftop in Piltover at midnight?"

"I was… I was…

At that moment Caitlyn burst in through the doors, her hair was ruffled and her clothes weren't on straight, she looked like she jumped out of bed and rushed here.

"What happened?" Cait asked, she had a frantic and worried look in her eyes "Jayce, what happened?"

Catching the accusing stare from Vayne, and Jayce's shocked and slightly mortified look, she ran her hands down her clothes, attempting to straighten them, it didn't work, indeed it made them even more ruffled, ignoring the mess of herself, she turned back to them, her voice now in a forced tone of serious.

"Piltover law enforcement, tell me what happened"

"Uh…" Jayce clearly had no idea how to respond.

"Yes Jayce, What were you doing on a rooftop in Piltover at MIDNIGHT!"

"Vayne, Vayne, calm down, he saved your life" Caitlyn interjected

"So what, you were just out for a midnight stroll at the same time and place I was attacked?"

"No… er… I…" Jayce was looking anywhere but at Caitlyn, and Caitlyn was looking down at the floor, her cheeks turning red.

"Jayce was just…" Caitlyn's look of embarrassment was even more pronounced now, a thought crossed Vayne's mind, were her and Jayce…

"Jayce was just coming home from one of his midnight escapades, wasn't he?"

Cait didn't say anything, but the truth was plastered all over her face.

"What's wrong Cait? Vi not good enough for you?" it was a joke, but nobody took any humor from it, indeed it served more as a barb than anything else.  
The explanation that Jayce had been "Spending the evening" at Cait's made sense, the route he would take would indeed bring him to where she was. The explanation was one she was ready to accept, but there were two more things

"Where is my wristbow?" she demanded, steel in her voice, if not on her wrist.

"Here, I just wanted a look at it" Jayce fished it out of his satchel and tossed it to her.

The aim on his toss was off slightly, and with her arm on the crutch, she couldn't catch it, it fell past her on to the floor. Turning slightly, she bent down to pick up the wristbow.

"ARGHHH!" she had forgotten that the painkiller had worn off "AHH OUCH AHA FUCK ARGH!"

Nancy the nurse came rushing in to the room as she managed to pick up the wristbow, it was dented in several places, probably from the fall, and she had landed on it when she fell.

"Here, this will help" The nurse said as she handed Vayne a small glass with some purple liquid in the bottom, Not knowing what else to do, she swallowed the purple liquid, it tasted vile, but almost immediately she began to feel numb in her hip.

"That's much better, see, it will numb your pain for about half an hour" Nancy said "by then we'll be able to operate, or transfer you to Soraka's care"

Testing this new medicine, Vayne gently stood up, she felt little pain, little enough that she could walk, she turned back to Jayce.

"And my goggles, give them to me" she demanded

"I…" he started as he fished them out of his bag.

"Give them to me!"

"I just thought that maybe…"

"GIVE THEM TO ME!"

"NO! Listen to me, I thought you might give me some time to look them over, I could learn from them, help protect Piltover and everything, it's the least you could do to repay…" he was interrupted by Caitlyn walking up to him and smacking him across the face before grabbing the goggles from his hand and tossing them to Vayne, she caught this time and turned back to Jayce again

"I don't owe you anything" she snarled at him, before turning to leave.

"Wait, Come back" someone called, it took her a moment to realize this was the nurse

"I'm fine, thank you, I'll be going now" she said

"No, you can barely walk you…."

"Let her go, she'll be fine, god know she's been through worse" Cait said gently, as Vayne walked away….


	2. Claver's Lane

_At the Institute of War; in a small courtyard, the little gap of leftover space between two of the numerous expansions to the institute, was a rock garden, a dusty sign proclaiming it to be the Plaskett memorial garden. When she had first arrived at the institute, Leona had found this lonely garden and something in it called to her, over the next few lonely weeks, she found herself returning to this little spot. One day she brought some plants, one day a bench, and eventually she made this place her home away from home. Nobody ever bothered her in her garden, and the rocks and the sun reminded her of her old village on Mount Taragon, and she would shut herself in this little place and be alone._

_Eventually, things got better, she started helping at the infirmary, and having someone, whoever it was that day, that needed her, pulled her back together. Even when it became clear the elders just wanted her out of the way, things weren't as bad, she had people who needed her and a place that was her own, more so then her plain room, during the summer she had even taken to sleeping in her garden, as she had that night, she had hidden the door behind a musty tapestry and in over a year, nobody had ever so much as looked in…_

A rumble from her stomach roused her from her thoughts, she was on her way to the mess, and almost there. The corridor was busier than normal; some important match that nobody would remember once it was done must be starting soon. At least she didn't have to participate in today's match, often she did but today a break was welcome. She was almost slipping back in to her thoughts when someone ran up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder

"Excuse me, I have a message for you" it was a summoner, a girl of obvious freljordian origin, young too, younger then Leona herself. The girl seemed far too nervous for such a simple task of delivering a message.

"Thank you Ms.… um…" Leona wanted to know this girl's name, the institute seemed a faceless entity and knowing the names of the people inside made it less intimidating.

"Oh… Uh, Vilja Caeloi" she answered, rocking from foot to foot, "Message from Soraka, you're to go to the infirmary immediately"

Leona sighed, she was hungry, but Soraka had asked for her help, and it was not like Soraka would have sent such a message if she didn't actually need help. "Of course you'll help her Leona" she muttered under her breath, turning towards the infirmary…

…She pushed open the Ionian styled swinging doors to the infirmary, the room was a beautiful one, she never failed to notice that. Soraka had, over the year or so Leona had been working there, transformed the infirmary, what had once been a very plain white room, like most of the infirmaries and hospitals of Valoran. Now, the walls had paintings of meadows and rivers, the windows had been enlarged, and cast bright beams of sunlight on the beds, and painted paper screens replaced the curtains around beds. But Leona's favorite part was the celling, on the ceiling, arranged above the beds, were intricately carved wood panels showing the history of Valoran. The panels had been gifts, one each from each of Ionia's schools, as a gift to Soraka for her services during and after the occupation.

Leona shook herself out of her admiration of the room and turned to its occupants, Soraka was hunched over a bed, a wounded young man, wearing the robes of a junior summoner. Hearing her footsteps, Soraka turned to Leona, "he will recover, but your purpose here is different" Soraka said "What happened?" Leona asked, "The same thing as always" Leona nodded, every year with the entry of new summoners, someone took a fancy to one of the more violence inclined female champions, followed them around for a day or two, and then got injured 'somehow' , usually by a knife or arrow.

"So what do you need me for?" Leona asked, "Vayne" Soraka replied, "Something is wrong with Vayne, I can feel it" Soraka's voice held absolute certainty, but then, it always did. At that moment, the girl who had delivered Soraka's message ran in to the infirmary, "Yes, little one, what did you discover?" Soraka asked "The books say she checked out yesterday afternoon, to return this afternoon, nothing is out of order" Vilja announced, a little out of breath. Soraka thought for a moment, and then turned back to Vilja, "Do you know where she was going?" she asked, before answering herself "No, Vayne wouldn't want anyone to know, she's just like that".

Soraka looked at the celling for a second, then she made up her mind, "Stand back" she cautioned. With that warning, she closed her eyes, and started to float a few inches off the ground, her eyes closed, and then she opened them, but when they opened, they were not Soraka's eyes, rather the void of space, with thousands of little stars. Some kind of cosmic dust began to swirl around her suspended form, it was beautiful, but the whole thing gave Leona a sense of danger, it unsettled her. Suddenly, after no more than a few seconds, her eyes snapped back to their normal yellow-orange, the cloud dissipated, and the room seemed brighter.

Soraka managed to croak out "Claver's lane" before she collapsed to the nearest chair. "Claver's lane, isn't that in Piltover?" Leona asked? "Y-Y-Yes" Vilja said, her thick accent exacerbated by her stuttering. What Soraka had just done had obviously shaken Vilja, it had shaken Leona the first (and only other) time she had seen that. Moving over to the wall of cabinets and shelves, she grabbed a nerve tincture that Taric had made and poured a small quantity in to a glass for Vilja. Once Vilja had drank her tincture Leona turned to her and said "I have to go, once you feel a bit better, go find Taric or one of the summoners who have medical experience and tell one of them that they need to come work the infirmary, Soraka will need a while to recover." And with that, Leona headed for Piltover.

Negotiating rapid passage to Piltover was harder than Leona was expecting, you would think that the people with vehicles would be happy to transport a champion; goodness knows the institute paid well enough. Eventually she found a carriage that would take her to Piltover, although it wouldn't arrive until midday, regardless, there was no better option, so aboard she climbed. The journey was pleasant enough, there was nobody in the carriage but a father and his newborn daughter, the ride was calm and relaxing, or rather it should have been. Leona couldn't stop thinking about what she'd find in Piltover, there was always the possibility that Soraka was wrong, but somehow, she never was…

_**Piltover, eight hours earlier:**_

Vayne hobbled out of the Piltover hospital, she was going to go to her base in Piltover, an abandoned apartment on Claver's lane, an inconspicuous side street. She had been there earlier that night, she was sure… it wasn't a long way from the hospital, only a few blocks. Once she was there, she needed to find out who had tried to kill her, was it the black rose? What could they want with her? _Either way, she needed to get to the apartment … it wasn't a long way from the hospital, only a few blocks. Once she was there, she needed to find out who had tried to kill her… She had been there earlier that night, she was sure…_

Almost tripping over her crutch brought her out of her daze for a moment, it was the painkiller, and she needed to flush it from her system. To that end she took a small steel vial from her belt and drank it. The vial was an anti-toxin; hopefully it worked on the painkiller, but that would make walking much harder… _She needed to get to the apartment … it wasn't a long way from the hospital, only a few blocks. Once she was there, she needed to find out who had tried to kill her… She had been there earlier that night, she was sure… She was almost to the apartment now… just a few more streets, she decided to lean against a building… She needed to get to the apartment … it wasn't a long way from the hospital, only a few blocks. Once she was there, she needed to find out who had tried to kill her… She had been there earlier that night, she was sure… Then all of a sudden, she felt much less pain, her hip was fine, but still she had to hide, that hag could still be after her, it had murdered her father, so she got up and ran further…_

_She had no idea where she was going, or what she was going to do, she just had to get away, far away. She ran straight for several blocks before she had to stop, leaning against the wall in another narrow alley, it occurred to her to check the pistol; six bullets were still loaded in the gun._

_She sat there, breathing heavily, heart beating a mile a minute, for some time, eventually she gathered the strength to get up and keep moving. She had just got to her feet when someone came in to the alley,_

"_Shauna, what the fuck are you doing here?" it was Pat Braceman a neighborhood troublemaker, a boy a few years older than her. Looking at her expression, he said: "ah, I understand, I can help you"_

"_Y-Y-You can?"_

"_Sure, I know where you can hide for now, and then we'll work out what to do next"_

_How does he know? Vayne thought_

"_Come on, follow me"_

_Vayne got up and followed him through the maze of alleyways, something wasn't right here, an alarm bell was going off somewhere in her mind, still she followed him onward. Eventually he came to a stop in a dead end. Something is wrong! Something is wrong! Her brain was screaming at her get out of that alley now, but Pat Braceman had already gone to block her path, he grabbed her and forced her against a wall._

_An uncharacteristic rage swelled up inside Vayne, she thought of the hag that had murdered her parents, and this boy that was no doubt going to do the same to her, of the way she had just hid rather than fighting back. Finding a strength she didn't know she had, she shoved him off of her._

"_LET ME GO" she shouted pulling the gun out and pointing at him._

"_What! Where'd you get that! Ahg! What are you doing!" there was now a very real panic in his voice._

"_Listen, I'm sorry! It was all a misunderstanding! Alright! Just go away!"_

"_NO" she shouted, and she pulled the trigger, six times, six gunshots rang through the alley, six bullets hit a shocked Pat Braceman. Blood exploded everywhere, and Pat Braceman fell over dead, and Vayne blacked out…_

…Nurse Nancy Miller, less than a year on the job, but one of Piltover's best nurses, who had been on that unusual night shift who had tended to Vayne less than an hour earlier had then went to find Vayne on her break. Nurse Nancy Miller of Piltover fell over dead, as the blood drained out of her and Vayne passed out a few feet away, six silver bolts shone in the moonlight, six silver bolts that were unmistakably Vayne's, six silver bolts Vayne had shot herself, at the end of Claver's Lane…

**Feedback, please, did you like it, hate it, is some typo driving you OCD crazy? Let me know.**


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